1.30.2010

Recently, I've had a lot of conversations dealing with people wanting to lose weight. I love my job as a fitness instructor and always want to give people game plans of success (or what I think would lead to success), but no one really ever asked me, so I'm telling you what I would do anyway. Maybe I should become a personal trainer so I could really do this more. Oh well. Here's what I would suggest as a weightloss game plan:

*First-you know your body. You know how hard you can go. If you are starting from ground zero, ease into it (30 minutes a day--3 days a week). Don't go freaky. Two hours of exercise a day is the most I would suggest. If you do more than that, it comes across as an addiction/problem.*

Before you start. Take measurements! We like to see improvement! I would suggest: Weight, waist (the skinniest area or from the naval), chest, ribcage, arms (center point from elbow to armpit), hips, butt, thighs (just under the curve of the bottom), and calves-if you really want. Don't weight yourself daily-rather do it once a week at the same time (Monday morning for example).

Diet: You don't really need to overhaul your diet unless you eat like crap and a lot of it. The key is moderation. If you want chocolate-eat it! But stick to a serving size! If you crave McDonalds-fine-but go for a Happymeal instead of super-sized fries. Don't restrict yourself--you'll just end up craving it. Have lots of veggies available to munch on--just hold the fatty ranch and go for fat-free. Calorie wise, most people need to stick between 1500-2000 calories. Try to keep fat lowish, saturated fat even lower, and trans fat non-existant. If you are going to exercise, you need to eat to keep up energy. Just watch what you eat and you'll be fine.

Exercise: This is where I am passionate! If you really want to lose weight, shoot for burning at least 500 calories a day (and don't replace these lost calories!). Stick with cardio every day you workout (at least 3-5 days a week), and lift weights at least twice a week.

Cardio Options: (gym class goers) With kickboxing, bootcamp, spin, and step aerobics you will easily burn at least 500 calories in a 60 min class. Zumba, hip hop, and other dance classes should be pretty close also.

Cardio: (on your own) Treadmills, elipticals, and stationary bikes are great and usually have monitors to gage calorie burn. Walking is good-better with light hand weights, and running is stellar (I average about 100 calories per 10 min/1 mile-I am not really a runner!). If you workout on your own, play with speed, inclines, and intensity. Don't be afraid to push yourself. Your body needs a shock every now and then to make it work! You can also do your own bootcamp with jump ups, stair runs, jumping jacks, sprints, track drills, pushups, etc, to give yourself a rockin' workout!

Strength Training: (gym) Most clubs have some sort of group lifting class. This are fantastic for a total body workout. Most focus on light weight, lots of reps, sort of training. This is a great way to get definition without the bulk (which us girls normally shoot for). They also keep ya moving. I average about 400 calories in an hour class, which is high for lifting. Other great options are pilates and yoga. If you've never tried one of those classes, you will feel muscles the next day you didn't know existed!

Strength Training: (on your own) If you have your own weights, do a circuit training hitting all your major muscles (shoulders, biceps, triceps, back, chest, quads, hams, calves, and abs). You can do upper body one day, and lower the next, or just hit the whole body twice a week. I like to listen to upbeat music with a heavy beat and lift with that to keep a tempo and keep me going. No weights? No problem! Grab some cans, your kids, water bottles, (or anything else) and use that! Pushups, situps, dips, squats, and lunges can be done with just your own weight. There's lots of workout videos with the same ideas (Jillian Michaels has great ones, and of course all the pilates and yoga videos available at the library, ondemand, and probably at any friends house!).

Get yourself on a schedule so you know what to expect. For a gym goer example:

Realistically, you should only lose 1-2 lbs a week if you really need to lose weight, or about 1-3 lbs a month if you just think you need to lose weight (you skinny folk that are never happy with your skinnyness). Don't expect miracles! You will probably gain a little weight at first with the muscle you are building.

If you want your own personalized game plan-let me know! I thrive on this crap. I know what worked for me, and what I've seen work for others! And basically, this is what I would have you do, if you asked me!

1.23.2010

Jon and I have not had the greatest year so far. Frankly, 2010 has been horrible to us. So when our Branch was told that we needed to send some people to go and clean the temple, Jon and I quickly agreed to go. We have lived here for 18 months and had yet set foot in the temple here. Our good friend watched the kids for us, and we were off! Cleaning the temple is not glamorous at all--cleaning rarely is--but there's something peaceful about being there dusting floorboards, and glossening trashcans. You wouldn't believe the detail they take to make that building so beautiful. It was actually really fun to be vaccuuming up the hall and pass a room where Jon was dusting. There really is something amazing about seeing your eternal companion vaccuuming the Celestial room! If you ever get a chance to clean the temple . . . do it! You will not regret the time spent on your hands and knees cleaning the house of the Lord!

1.04.2010

I realized after I uploaded my pictures that I hadn't downloaded my New Year's pictures. Those will have to wait. And now for our Christmas break in no particular order: After Christmas we went up to Amarillo and celebrated Christmas and my birthday and I got to wear the party hat. (It's tradition!)

Sevy momentarily played Santa and passed around the gifts.Sevy and her cousin Avery. This picture is to show off my mad sewing skills! I promised my Mom a picture of the dress that I made for Sevy with the material we picked out while she was in town and my first major project on my NEW sewing machine that she gave me for my birthday! I think it turned out rather cute!

Jon got the box set of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles that came with the original 3 movies, TMNT, AND as an added bonus, the masks! Teik enjoyed being Michaelangelo.The family as turtles. (Obviously, Teik like being Mikie better than Leonardo!)

Jon's big gift from me. It was a miracle it even got to me after it never arrived for weeks and then showed back up at the seller's house, but we got it in time! (It's a signed photo of Mike Modano--Jon's favorite Dallas Star--and Marrow). The traditional staircase picture take before we can see what Santa brought.

We went to Nasa--one of our favorite places--while Jon had off. These were my boyfriends for the day. Jon was jealous, and Teik did not like them.

Jon and I ready for take-off. Sevy was our photographer. She didn't want to get in with us.

Sevy and her preschool! They did the cutest Nativity play! Sevy was the inn-keeper and they all had lines and sang, and it was the funniest thing ever!

This was the scene before the kids saw what Santa brought. The after picture is quite scary and I think we are still missing pieces of the train. We need to figure out a way to bolt that sucker down!

We had the kids paint hand wreaths for Christmas Eve! They got a little dirty and our house is slightly tinted green, but they loved it!

Teik in the painting aftermath! At least his binkie matches!

And that was our Christmas break in a nutshell. We dolled up for New Years, so I'll add those pictures later! Good times had by all!

About Me

We met in 2000, and married August 27, 2004. We spent our first 9 months in Provo, Utah, before we moved to Lubbock, Texas in May of 2005. Sevy girl was born March 27, 2006 and has made our lives CRAZY! Her brother Kristian Teik Ormson was born June 27, 2008 and how our world has changed again! We've moved to Houston for Dental School in July 2008 to our first home! On August 30, 2011, Deckland Knute joined our family, making us a whopping family of 5! Jon graduated Dental School in May 2012 and we are moving to Amarillo to start our first REAL job!